Player of the week: Commerce QB Whitfield's leadership key for Tigers

Tuesday

Sep 25, 2012 at 8:13 PM

Chris Starrs

Although Commerce quarterback Drew Whitfield scored the game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds remaining in last Friday's 18-17 victory over Rabun County, he actually made the biggest play of the night on special teams.

The Wildcats - No. 9 in Class A - trailed the Bobcats 17-6 going into the fourth quarter, but pulled within six when Jamal Browner scored on a short run with three minutes remaining.

At that point, Commerce coach Marvin Justice ordered an onside kick, which was recovered by Whitfield, who then calmly led his team on a 10-play, 45-yard drive to claim the 11th-hour victory, which kept the Tigers' record perfect at 4-0.

Justice, whose team opens Region 8-A play at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at George Walton (3-1 and ranked No. 8 in Class A), said he doesn't like to call on Whitfield for special teams play, but he wasn't surprised his quarterback wound up with the football.

"It sure was the biggest play of the game," Justice said. "I don't like the QB to play on a lot of special teams; the only special team Drew's on regularly is the punt team, and that's because he's the punter. I don't like the quarterback to do anything but quarterback.

"But Drew's on our onside kick and hands team, because I put the best I've got out there … I wasn't surprised one single bit that he came up with the ball. Before we played a single game, I said Drew would be a good player for us. He's got a lot of character and he's a competitor and he hates to lose, so I wasn't surprised at all that he recovered the kick."

The junior quarterback said several incidents in the final minutes of the game surprised him.

"When we came out there, I don't know why I was surprised, but I was surprised when we did the onside kick, because we haven't done it all year," the 5-foot-09, 160-pound Whitfield said. "But I was more surprised that (Rabun County) came out and wasn't in onside (kick) return. I told one of my teammates, Chance (McClure), 'We have to get this ball. It will be embarrassing if we don't because they're not in onside kick return.'

"It was a great kick from Nahum Mendoza. It went just about 10 yards and hit off one of their kid's shoulder pads and it bounced right to me. It was a little sign of hope right there because it was a real struggle throughout the fourth quarter."

Whitfield has been a key element in Commerce's hot start, rushing 50 times for 312 yards and five touchdowns while directing a triple-option that includes top-shelf ball carriers Jamal Browner (327 yards, three touchdowns) and Terrick Ramsey (457 yards, four touchdowns).

"From a personal standpoint, I'm OK with the way I'm playing right now, but everybody can get a little bit better and I know I can play better," Whitfield said. "I've just got to work on the little things that I see on film."

"Drew has played really well," Justice said. "Looking at the whole (Rabun County) game, he was certainly the player of the week in my book. The last few weeks, we haven't played as well as we would have liked and it seems like in the second half of the last three games, he's really stepped his game up and his teammates are kind of following his lead."

Considering that Whitfield had rarely played quarterback on the Commerce varsity, he's picked up the nuances of the triple-option well, Justice said.

"He was the quarterback in middle school and was quarterback on our JV when he was a freshman," Justice said. "Last year, he started at safety and was a blocking back in the I-bone. He was the middle guy in the triple-I. We're still a three-back offense, but not in the I-bone. We're more of a double-wing offense.

"Last year, Drew wasn't even the backup quarterback - Jamal Browner was our No. 2. So he hardly got any reps at all at quarterback last year, so I've been really pleased with his progression over the past year. He was away from it for a full year - he wasn't involved in any quarterback play, so he's done really well."

Whitfield said learning the triple-option wasn't terribly difficult.

"I would say it's a lot of learning, but for our offense, it's pretty simple for the backfield," he said. "I don't know about the offensive line, but for the backs it's not that much of a transition. And once you learn it, it's drilled into your head."

Honorable Mention

Boys cross country

Morgan Bishoff, Athens Christian - At the Oglethorpe County Best in Class on Saturday, Bishoff finished second among 120 runners in a time of 16 minutes, 49.36 seconds as Athens Christian finished fourth in the 16-team meet.

Henry Dwyer, Athens Academy - At Saturday's inaugural Run Wild Meet, co-sponsored by First Presbyterian Day and Warner Robins, Dwyer finished first among 222 runners in a time of 16 minutes, 3.28 seconds as Athens Academy finished first among 25 teams.

Cole Thornton, North Oconee - At the Oglethorpe County Best in Class on Saturday, Thornton finished fourth among 120 runners in a time of 17 minutes, 6.12 seconds as North Oconee finished first in the 16-team meet.

Girls cross country

Allie Dominicali, Clarke Central - At the Oglethorpe County Best in Class on Saturday, Dominicali finished third among 97 runners in a time of 20 minutes, 59.99 seconds as Clarke Central finished fourth among 10 teams.

Elizabeth Gunther, Athens Christian - At the Oglethorpe County Best in Class on Saturday, Gunther finished fourth among 97 runners in a time of 21 minutes, 1.59 seconds as Athens Christian finished third among 10 teams.

Rachel Sigler, North Oconee - At the Oglethorpe County Best in Class on Saturday, Sigler finished first among 97 runners in a time of 20 minutes, 2.19 seconds as North Oconee finished first among 10 teams.

Football

Kyle Daniel, Xavier Harper, Dustin Scott, Jackson County - In Jackson County's 47-7 victory Friday over East Jackson, Daniel completed 13 of 17 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns, Harper caught four passes for 111 yards and three touchdowns and Scott rushed for 74 yards and three touchdowns.

Zack Graham, Bryce Huff, Prince Avenue Christian - In Prince Avenue Christian's 48-7 victory Friday over Glascock County, Graham completed 6 of 8 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns and Huff ran five times for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

Zantravious Shields, North Oconee - In North Oconee's 44-0 victory Friday at Athens Christian, Shields scored touchdowns on runs of 46 and 30 yards and returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown.

Eric Williams, Austin Schulte, Michael Santamaria, Athens Academy - In Athens Academy's 10-7 victory Friday over Our Lady of Mercy, Williams and Schulte connected on a 74-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter and Santamaria kicked a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Softball

Chandler Carey, Annabeth Pruett, Kadijah Arnold, Prince Avenue Christian - In Prince Avenue Christian's 2-1 victory Thursday over Commerce, Carey had three hits and two RBIs, Pruett had two hits and a run and Arnold had two hits and a run.

Ivie Drake, Alexis Damron, Madison County - In Madison County's 4-2 victory Thursday over Lumpkin County, Drake had three hits and Damron pitched 5.2 innings in relief, gaving up two hits and striking out nine.

Mason Garland, Madi Pecht, Shelton Kendrix, Peyton Sorrells, Jackson County - In Jackson County's 9-1 victory at East Jackson Thursday, Garland had two hits and four RBIs, Pecht had three hits, three runs, one RBI and two stolen bases, Kendrix had two hits, two RBIs and a stolen base, and Sorrells pitched a complete-game four-hitter with four strikeouts.

Hannah Harden, Jacqueline Truluck, North Oconee - In North Oconee's 7-2 victory Friday at Loganville, Harden pitched a complete-game three-hitter with one strikeout and no earned runs and Truluck had two hits and two RBIs. On Thursday, Harden pitched a complete game and had three hits, two runs and two RBIs as the Lady Titans defeated Hart County 7-2.

Marissa Merrill, Carlee Thurmond, Ashley Waits, Winder-Barrow - In Winder-Barrow's 11-0 victory Thursday over Gainesville, Merrill had three hits, two runs and two RBIs, Thurmond had three hits and two RBIs and Waits had two doubles.

Jesse Michael, Brianna Dickens, Jessica Patridge, Oconee County - In Ocone County's 6-4 nineinning victory Thursday over Elbert County, Dickens and Partridge drove in the Lady Warriors' final two runs and Michael pitched a complete-game six-hitter with six strikeouts.

Morgan McKinney, Erin Jackson, Megan Faulkner, Jefferson - In Jefferson's 3-0 victory Thursday at Oglethorpe County, McKinney pitched a complete-game one-hitter with four strikeouts, Erin Jackson hit a home run and Faulkner added a hit and an RBI.

Cheyenne Pridgen, Danielle Bishop, Athens Christian - In Athens Christian's 5-3 eight-inning victory Thursday at Providence Christian, Pridged pitched a complete-game two-hitter with 10 strikeouts and had two hits, a run and an RBI, and Bishop recorded three hits and drove in the winning run.

Volleyball

Abby DeFabio, Madison Thomas, Rebekah Reems, North Oconee - In North Oconee's victories Thursday over East Jackson and Jackson County, DeFabio had eight kills and eight aces, Thomas had seven aces and Reems recorded 16 assists.